Fancy touring with us??

We are currently seeking a Touring Production Manager. Please head to our 'Work With Us' page for more information, and get in touch if interested. Thank you!

Elspeth xo

Are you a Production Designer?

We are now seeking a Production Designer to work with us on our tour of 'The Idiot at the Wall'. Head to our 'Work With Us' page for more information, and get in touch if you're interested - we'd love to hear from you :-) Thanks!
Deadline 26/4/13

Stoirm Òg xo

We have a new name!!

'Stoirm Òg'

I'm super excited to announce our new name...... 'Stoirm Òg', which is Gaelic for 'Young Storm'. It's pronounced 'sturum og' ('stuh' as in 'sturdy'!).....eeazzee peezee! 

So how come this happened....?! I really liked the name 'First Bicycle', which Angie and I hit upon (in a mad hurry!) last year - it was inspired by a line in 'The Idiot at the Wall' which talked about the first bicycle coming to the island, and then it also made us think of risk, trying new things and such :-) However, having lived with the company and thought about what we are, what we're doing, and what we hope to do, I wanted to listen to instinct and find a name which I will love saying a hundred times a day, and which I've found through the brainstorming, faith, and rigour with which I like to work. I've settled on a Gaelic name because I'm in the midst of what I hope will be a long love affair with the language, because I feel totally at home speaking it, and because I'd like to honour that by combining it with this other thing I love like crazy, which is theatre. A massive thank you to all those I consulted (including some esteemed Gaelic scholars I was able to hassle about it) - thank you for your wisdom, honesty, encouragement, and brilliant anecdotes :-) I arrived at this name through tons of exploration, and in the end gave most consideration to words that would sustain and inspire me through ups and downs! The challenging business of producing art is such that it has the potential to kill the youthful spirit of adventure and wonder essential to making the art in the first place, and I wanted a name that would remind me to retain my sense of humour, and loving approach, even in the wildest tempests :-) Also, the word 'storm' is awesome because it reminds me so much of the mood which often envelops ideas....when they're forming, when you start to nurture them, when they won't do what they're told etc - and it'll be great to remember that ideas are like wild little storms crashing around, and they just need some structure and love to let them develop into amazing work. The brilliant director, and my dear friend, Lisa Milinazzo once said to me: 'Remember that nothing is ever created - no matter how huge or impressive - that didn't begin as a tiny, tiny seed' I thought of that loads on my journey to a new name...thanks Lisa :-) What was also tricky, was anticipating the many ways various Gaelic words might be pronounced by those with no knowledge of Gaelic - and I am very keen not to exclude people or scare them off from talking about us 'n stuff ;-) What I've arrived at, though, is super easy to pronounce, and feels nice to say, too....who doesn't like Scottish 'r' sounds??! So don't be scared of messing it up....no big deal :-) Gaelic is brilliant and might even be lodged somewhere in your unconscious memory of a past life.....

Oh, and I kinda like how 'young storm' sounds like the coming-of-age name of someone in an ancient, indigenous tribe.....so that's sweeeeeeet.

Enough rambling already....anyways - that's why I'm taking us forward with a shiny new name! I hope you like :-)

Now back to tour-planning.....

Slàn!

Elspeth xo

Artistic Director
Stoirm Òg

The Touring Network!

Great news! We just heard today that 'The Idiot at the Wall' is going to be included in The Touring Network's Supported touring initiative. We're very excited! A bit about The Touring Network...

'The Touring Network supports those who enable professional performing arts events in some of the most remote and beautiful places in Scotland'

Click here for more :-) Thank you TTN!

In other news, we had a great tour/production meeting at the lovely Creative Scotland offices on Friday morning. Aiyana and Emily could take over the world, I think ;-) In the afternoon Emily and I got to work on the new draft, and I love it more than ever :-) Can't wait for you all to see it later this year....

Also.....a teaser....I'm about to change the name of the company....whaaaaaaaaaat??! It's Gaelic and it's awesome......coming soon!!

Our Rockstar Producer :-)

Here's a little more about this amazing lady, who has recently joined us to produce our very first tour!

Aiyana D'Arcangelo is a freelance producer and project manager living in Fife and working in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Born and raised in southern Oregon, she has been slowly moving east over the years. After completing her undergraduate studies in Theatre at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Aiyana lived in New York for 6 years where she did production work for New York University (Tisch School of the Arts and Villa La Pietra), Robert Wilson (Watermill Center for the Arts), Lincoln Center Festival, ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ (Pace University), Cynthia Hopkins (‘Must Don't Whip 'Um’ - National Tour), and St. Ann's Warehouse. Since moving to Scotland in 2011, Aiyana has completed a post-graduate degree in Managing in the Creative Industries at the University of St Andrews and worked with the Dundee Rep, Edinburgh International Science Festival, Poorboy Theatre, and David Leddy / Fire Exit. She is very excited to be joining First Bicycle in developing a Scottish and North American tour of Elspeth’s beautiful new play, ‘The Idiot at the Wall.’

www.i-m.co/adarcangelo/adarcangelo/

Welcome Aiyana :-)

Meanwhile, I'm in some luscious surroundings deep in the Lake District, working on a re-draft of 'The Idiot at the Wall', talking to venues, and writing some new stuff too :-) Oh, and roaming around the hills singing etc. You know how it goes...Thank you to the very obliging landlady (my sister, Ruth)...she's ace :-)

Love and Light! 

Elspeth xo

Welcome Aiyana!

I want to say a massive welcome to Aiyana D'Arcangelo, who is joining us as Producer, and will be working with us on developing our first tour of 'The Idiot at the Wall'. More details on this amazing American to follow :-) Very excited to work with her......we're gonna do amazing things!

FST Emporium!

Last week we attended the Federation of Scottish Theatre's Emporium on Touring Theatre in Scotland, at the Caird Hall in Dundee - which, by the way, is a city with LOADS going on! It was a wonderful day, incredibly well-attended by lots of inspiring people working to make things happen in Scottish theatre. Everyone we spoke to was incredibly enthusiastic about our plans to tour 'The Idiot at the Wall', I tried out some of my Gaelic on a gigantic room of people (!) and the day ended with yummy cake and wine. Awesome :-) Thanks FST.

Also, I spent a fantastic day at Creative Scotland's lovely offices here in Edinburgh, working on the new draft of the play with our lovely and brilliant director Emily Reutlinger. So excited to be re-working it, and improving it some more :-)

So now we figure out exactly where we'll be heading to during our tour later this year, and we raise the means to get on the ROAD!! Onwards!!